Henry Rollins: Live at Luna Park (2003)
Film:
DVD:

Written & Performed by Henry Rollins
Directed by Modi

Features:

• Bonus segment: "Rollins vs. Iggy Pop"
  

Released by 2.13.61
Rating: NR (but will destroy the weak)
Region: 1
Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 format.

My Advice: Own it, or you suck and you'll be destroyed.

Henry Rollins has had a very interesting life. He went from being a fan of the band Black Flag to being its frontman to heading up his own band. He went from living in a metal garden shed in somebody's backyard to owning his own company, being in the odd Hollywood movie, and touring the world doing both musical and spoken word performances. As they say: not too shabby.

In this release, we get the greatest hits of a two-month stint that Rollins did at the Luna Park nightclub in Hollywood. Basically, back in 1999, he was challenged to do a gig a week for two months without repeating any material. Anybody with any familiarity with Rollins would have the same reaction I did: what an unworthy challenge for The Rollins. Rollins can do three hours of spoken word with the same ease with which most people can put on their socks. Pshaw.

But regardless, here you get a total of ninety-six minutes of Rollins going off about everything from driving in L.A. to insane technologists as reported to him by some cat in the Czech Republic named Boris. Pretty typical and hilarious fare from Rollins, who delivers it all with the patented inexhaustible well of energy that he always seems to draw from.

There is no such thing as bad spoken word from Rollins, and the only problem I have with this release, just like the last one I reviewed from him is that there's never enough. It whets your appetite for more genius hilarity and there's none to be found. Hell, I would have taken a boxed set of the entire Luna Park run, personally. But always leaving them wanting more, and Rollins does.

The other thing that bugs me is when you've got a seventy-six minute feature and a twenty-minute bonus bit of footage that is essentially just another bit cut from the same cloth...why not just combine them to create an actual feature-length ninety-six minute film? Is it really a bonus if it's just more of the same (albeit just as damn funny) stuff? Give us an interview with the man himself asking questions like: so is a gig a week for two months really a stretch for you? Hell, a bit like there was on the recent Robin Williams release with a montage of sound effects and screams would be righteous enough. We're so easy to please.

Basically, we're happy as hell that 2.13 has now got DVDs under their umbrella of world domination. We want more and we want it soon. Any Rollins fan will want to own this so that they can inflict it on unsuspecting Rollins newbies and convert them on the spot. We've tried this in house--it works.